Professional education services

What are professional education services at SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health(CCMH), formerly The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre?

CCMH is committed to playing a major role in the children’s mental health field by providing professional education services that supply high-quality clinical training and supervised placements to future children’s mental health professionals. Since 1968, CCMH has had the distinction of being a partially affiliated teaching centre with the University of Toronto.

Who is eligible for professional education at CCMH?

CCMH provides professional education services to selected individuals working towards their first qualifications (“pre-qualification placements”) and to those who already have qualified in their fields (“post-qualification Fellows”). Placements cover a variety of mental health disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, social work, play therapy, and expressive arts. professional education services follows a systematic process for receiving applications and screening suitable applicants from Ontario and various Canadian provinces, as well as eligible candidates from other countries. At a minimum, all are at a master’s or equivalent level of training in a child/adolescent/family clinical stream of their discipline, and are committed to qualifying for professional registration. For some placement positions, a stipend is attached. The demand for all placement positions is high, so there usually are more applicants in a given year than CCMH is able to accept.

What do we do at CCMH?

Once candidates are selected, professional education services provides instruction in children’s mental health theory, diagnosis and therapy through teaching seminars. These seminars encourage critical inquiry and a review of articles in the professional literature to inform practice. A major strength of CCMH is that trainees’ clinical work is carried out collaboratively in interprofessional, community-based teams. Each placement trainee receives intensive one-on-one supervision and group supervision. CCMH also is able to provide live supervision and feedback during actual therapy sessions.

...and with what results?

In any one year, CCMH has approximately 25 pre- and post-qualification trainees placed at the Centre who are assisting in the delivery of services.

The findings of evaluations consistently demonstrate that CCMH’s professional education services have both immediate and long-term benefits for the trainees and the clients they serve. Feedback from placement trainees indicates that CCMH provides state-of-the-art training in psychotherapy including individual, family, and group therapy approaches.

Both the placement trainees and the institutions of higher learning that place them have consistently given CCMH high ratings as a placement setting. For example, in surveys of child psychiatry residents that compare CCMH with other community-based teaching centres, for 8 of the 10 past years, CCMH has been rated first among all teaching settings. In addition, several of the CCMH clinicians that supervise placement trainees have won teaching awards for their achievements.

Does CCMH provide any other types of placements?

Yes. In a typical year, in collaboration with local universities and community colleges, CCMH provides educational placements for more than 70 students, including approximately 35 medical students doing their child psychiatry rotation, two nursing students, 20 child and youth workers, and 10 advanced early childhood education students. For medical, nursing, and child and youth work students, the placements are primarily in our treatment programs. For other students, the placements are primarily in our prevention and early intervention programs. All such placements provide didactic training, practical experience, and close supervision, consistent with practicum goals and the requirements of the student’s training institution.